And the Festivities begin...

(Most Photos by Joe Sands, except those he is in obviously, and this one of me eating, why did I take a picture of myself eating? We women generally shy away from this kind of thing. But it was delicious!)

Joe and I have the pleasure of celebrating about four different Christmases each year. One of the few perks of having divorced parents means that you get to spread birthdays and holidays out over an extended period of time! So more celebrations and more presents!



Today was our first Christmas get together of the season with Joe, my dad, stepmom and brother. We've established our own traditions, non traditional traditions that we relish.

We don't have a big fancy dinner with an enormous turkey, we don't dress up or stress out. We get together, eat snacky things like pigs in a blanket, dips, cheese and crackers, olives and sliced veggies. With a fire roaring in the fireplace, we veg out and watch Love Actually at least every other year, sometimes substituting a little Wii bowling. We exchange gifts, often of the iTunes, educational, or cooking variety (we are nerdy like that) and we just hang out.







This year we took the dogs for a walk around the park since it was mild and sunny. And a good opportunity to walk off a little of the diabolical peanut butter bars. Bars so buttery, chocolaty and mouthwatering that they are only made once a year. It was a good day. And on my quest to lose weight, today wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad either. A little exercise, plenty of veggies, and just a few indulgent treats.





And more importantly I got to spend all day with some of my favorite people. Thanks, Dad and Kristy and Joe and Mike, for making today another warm, funny and joyful celebration. I love you guys.